Judaism
-Founder – Abraham – approx.
2000 BCE
- from city of Ur in
Mesopotamia
- follower of old religions with
personal gods
- moves his family to
Palestine based on
orders from his
personal god – Yahweh
- man of great faith
Judaism
- Key contributions  Law and
ethics
- Moses – approx 1200 BCE
- leads Hebrews out of slavery from
Egypt
- key belief  received Ten
Commandments from God – Exodus
20: 1-17
Ethical Monotheism
Judaism
People to know (besides Moses &
Abraham)
- David
Events to know (besides
- Solomon
the Ten Commandments)
- Division of kingdom
into Judah and Israel
- Conquests by Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Persians, Greeks, & Romans
- Babylonian Captivity
- Jewish Diaspora
Christianity
Christianity is born in Palestine
during Roman occupation
-Four Jewish sects
- Pharisees
- Sadduccees
- Essenes
- Zealots
- Jesus – founder of religion
- born c. 6-4 BCE
- life known through New
Testament - Gospels
- attracted followers with simple message of loving God
and brotherhood of humanity
- used Parables
Christianity
-Central concept  Resurrection
- belief that Jesus died and rose
from dead after 3 days
- grants Christians hope in the
next life  redemption
- Jesus left no writings
- depended on disciples
(apostles) to spread word
- initially attracted few
followers
- Paul makes religion a world
religion
Christianity
- Paul – Second Founder
- attracted non-Jews – Gentiles
- particularly among Hellenized
populations
- Pharisee who has epiphany
moment
- taught Jesus died to atone for
sins and faith alone can gain
salvation – spread new religion
- taught using epistles  letters
- executed in Rome around year
65
Christianity
Why did this religion appeal to
Romans?
- Rome going through time of mystery
cults – Christianity fit b/c of idea of
divine savior & resurrection into better
& eternal life
- promise of equality
- occasional persecutions – particularly
under Diocletian who believed it was a
threat to his authority
Christianity
Constantine
313 – becomes Roman emperor
(Battle of Milvian Bridge)
- makes Christianity legal  Edict
of Milan
- calls Council of Nicaea in 325 to
settle doctrinal issues
- Arian controversy – was Jesus
human or divine?
- Nicaea does 2 things - declared Jesus to
be of the same substance as God uncreated and coeternal with Him
- Arianism is heresy
- Trinity
Christianity
Key Figures
- Theodosius - 387
- Augustine – 354-430
- sinner early in life  Confessions
- City of God
- fall of Rome – Adrianople, Vandals
- synthesized Plato with Christian thoughts
City of God
Heaven
Eternal
Perfect
God
Important
City of Man
Rome
Temporal
Imperfect
Man
Unimportant
Christianity
Beliefs of Augustine
- God existed in the souls all humans
- people should devote all their time & attention to
God and not be corrupted by worldly concerns
- human souls could be saved by the grace of God
- individuals were chosen by God to receive divine
grace - predestination
- human soul could not receive God’s grace unless
that person belonged to the church and had
received the sacraments
- human weaknesses could be overcome with the
help of the sacraments of the church
Christianity
Division of the Christian
Church
3 Issues
- Petrine Doctrine
- Council of Chalcedon
- Pope Leo I
- Iconoclastic Controversy
- Emperor Leo III
Great Schism – 1054
- Roman Catholic – west
- Eastern Orthodox - east
Islam
Spread of Islam
Arabia –
570
- hot &
arid
-trade
routes
- bedouins
- small
cities
around
oasis
- pagan
Islam
Mecca & the Ka’aba
- Mecca becomes
center of Arabian life
b/c of Ka’aba
- worship place
- tourist attraction
- Yathrib (later known as
Medina)
- multicultural, multireligious cities
Islam
Muhammad (570-632)
- orphaned and raised by uncle –
Abu Talib
- Quraysh tribe
- merchant
- marries wealthy widow Khadijah
@ age 25 (she was 40)
The Revelations
-received first revelation in 610 in
cave
- first convert – wife
- Abu Bakr
Islam
- “Recite, recite!”
- monotheism
- Jews and Christians – People of
the Book
- new religion (Islam) supersedes
previous
- Islam  “Submission to will of
Allah
- Muslim  one who has submitted
to will of Allah
- “There is no god but Allah and
Muhammad is His Prophet”
Islam
Five Pillars
- Faith
- Prayer
- Almsgiving
- Fasting
- Hajj
- problem with the Ka’aba
- converts come slowly
- death of Khadijah and Abu
Talib - 619
The Hajj
Islam
622 – flight to Yathrib (renamed
Medina)  Hijrah
- beginning of Islamic calendar
- 8-year war with Mecca
- 630 war ends with Muhammad
and Muslims victorious
- Ka’aba accepted as part of
Islam
- all Meccans convert to Islam
- Return to Medina (becomes
center of Islam
- Muhammad dies 632
Islam – The Four Caliphs
- no succession to the prophet given
- how to select of caliph (successor)?
-Options  relation to Muhammad
 community consensus
- Abu Bakr chosen to succeed
- 632-634
- unites Arabia
- collects revelations into Qur’an
- Umar (634-644), aka Umar the Great
- campaigns to spread Islam  conquers Sassanid Persia,
Egypt, and 2/3 of Byzantine Empire
Islam – The Four Caliphs
- Reasons for rapid
expansion
-good generals
- tax policy
- tolerance
- weakness of
Sassanid &
Byzantine Empires
- restlessness of Bedouins united by Islam
- Umar assassinated by Persians during Hajj
Islam – The Four Caliphs
- Uthman (644-656)
- considered holy man
- Umayyad Tribe – last Meccan
tribe to accept Islam
- allows cousin to continue
conquests  Mu’awiya
- reaches western Africa
- Uthman assassinated 656
Islam – The Four Caliphs
- Ali – FINALLY (656-661)
- son-in-law (married Muhammad’s
daughter Fatimah) and cousin (father
was Abu Talib) to Prophet
- many claimed he should have been
original successor
- battles Mu’awiya for control
- defeats Mu’awiya (battle of Siffin)
but allows him to live and continue
civil war
- Ali assassinated 661
Islam – Umayyad Dynasty
- Mu’awiya becomes caliph - continued expansion
- establish dynasty 661-750 - Arab superiority
- centered in Damascus (Syria)
Largest
expansion
- include
Middle
East to
Indus R.,
north
Africa, and
portions of
Spain
Islam – Umayyad Dynasty
- tremendous growth economically
& culturally
- construction of important mosque
Dome of the Rock 
- history
- division in Islam
continues
- resentment of non-Arabs
- Andalusia – Umayyad
Spain
Islam – Abbasid Dynasty
- 750 – 1258
- centered in Baghdad
- end of Arab superiority
- fragmentation
- Golden Age of Islam
- less expansion
- cultural development
Islam – Abbasid Dynasty
- unparalleled achievements
- Science  recovered ancient scripts
to make advances in medicine,
astronomy
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
- Math – Arabic numbers & algebra
- Literature – A Thousand and One
Nights (Arabian Nights)
- based on Harun al-Rashid
- Philosophy & Religion – Averroes
- synthesize Aristotle and Islamic doctrine
- Technologies include irrigation, gunpowder, sailing
(astrolabe), water power
- Falls to Mongol invasions in 1258